The New Creation Separate and Distinct from All Others--Why Chosen from Amongst the
Human Creation Rather Than from Others--The Object of Its Election--Present and Future
Missions--How Begotten and Born to the New Nature--The Close Relationship of All Its
Members with Each Other and with Their Captain, Head and Bridegroom-- Development and
Tests of Membership--The Sixth, or Spiritual, Sense of the New Creation for the
Discernment of Spiritual Things--By What Name Should the New Creation be Known, in Order
to be Loyal to the Head and to Separate from None of the Brethren?

THE CHURCH of the Gospel age is frequently spoken of in the Scriptures as a New
Creation--its ultimate members, the overcomers, being specifically mentioned as "New
Creatures" in Christ Jesus. (`2 Cor. 5:17`) Unfortunately, however, it has become
customary with fully consecrated Christians, as well as with others, to read the words of
divine inspiration in a mazy, hazy manner, which fails to give to its utterances their
real import, and deprives the reader of much of the blessing and comfort and instruction
which might be his if he but pursued a more reasonable course and were more thoroughly
filled with the spirit of discipleship --with a desire to comprehend the divine
revelation. The difficulty in large measure appears to be that ordinary readers of the
Word do not expect to be taught by it, but read it rather in a perfunctory manner as a
duty, or as a rest; and when they desire information respecting the divine plan they go to
commentaries and catechisms. These and living teachers should be helping hands to guide
Zion's pilgrims to a clearer knowledge of the divine character and

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plan; but, unfortunately, they often are the reverse. Frequently they becloud and
perplex the judgment and misconstrue the divine Word, and those who trust in them are led
away from the light rather than toward it. This misleading is not intentional, for both
teachers and authors, we should suppose, set forth to their readers the best they possess.
The fountainhead of the trouble is a long way off. Over 1800 years ago, when the apostles
"fell asleep," the enemy, Satan, got a free hand in the Church, the Lord's
wheat-field; and as our Lord's parable prophesied, he sowed the tares of error
unstintingly. (`Matt. 13:24,36-43`) Those errors more or less twisted and distorted every
truth of the divine revelation, with the result that before the fourth century had dawned
the Lord's wheat-field had practically become a tare-field with only a proportionately
small minority of true wheat in it. The darkness of error more and more settled down upon
the Church, and for ten centuries the "Mystery of Iniquity" prevailed, and gross
darkness covered the people. Those ten centuries are today denominated the "Dark
Ages" by a large proportion of the most intelligent people of the "Christian
world," and we are to remember that it was in the midst of this gross darkness that
the Reformation Movement had its start. The light of the Reformers began to shine amidst
the darkness, and, thank God, it has been growing brighter and brighter ever since! We can
not wonder, however, that the Reformers themselves, educated in that gross darkness, were
more or less contaminated with it, and that they did not instantly succeed in purging
themselves of its defiling errors: rather we would have considered it nothing short of a
miracle had they slipped from the gross darkness into the full, clear light of the divine
character and plan. The difficulty amongst the followers of the Reformers in the past
three centuries has been that they have considered it meritorious to accept the creeds
formulated in that reformation period, and have gloried in them, and have considered
unorthodox any further progress toward the light.

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On the contrary, they and we, while honoring the Reformers and rejoicing in their
fidelity, should remember that they were not the lights of the Church, that they were not
given to the Church to be her guides, and were but helpers at the very most. The divinely
appointed guides were, first of all, our Lord; and, secondly, his inspired and kept and
guided apostles; and, thirdly, God's holy men of old, who spake and wrote as they were
moved by the holy Spirit, for our admonition. It was because the Reformers were granted by
the Lord a glimpse of true light that they were enabled to discern partially how gross was
the darkness which surrounded them, and to make the heroic effort which they did make to
escape from it and to get again into the light of the knowledge of God, which shines in
the face of Jesus Christ our Lord, and which, through his words and the words of the
apostles, is given us to be a lamp to our feet and a lantern to our footsteps, causing the
path of the just to shine "more and more unto the perfect day." Whoever now
would be a follower of the Lord and a follower of the light, should take heed that, while
not ignoring human instrumentalities and their ministries, orally and through the printed
page, they should accept from these only such assistance as will aid them in appreciating
the inspired message recorded in the Scriptures: "If they speak not according to this
Word, it is because they have no light in them." In previous studies we have seen
that our Lord Jesus, long before he became "the man Christ Jesus," was "the
beginning of the creation of God"; we have seen a progressive development among God's
creations accomplished by and through the Beloved Son--cherubim, seraphim, angels, the
various orders of spirit beings, respecting whom little has been revealed to us. We have
just closed an examination of the earthly creation and through the light of divine
revelation, have seen how grand is to be its consummation during the "times of
restitution of all things spoken." But the Scriptures introduce to us the New
Creation, now under

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consideration, as entirely separate and distinct from the angelic orders and from man.
The Heavenly Father was pleased with every feature of his work, for "all his work is
perfect," and each class, or order, is perfect in itself, or will be by the time the
great Jubilee, referred to in a previous chapter, shall be introduced. The creation of
these various orders, then, is not to be understood as signifying a dissatisfaction on the
part of the Creator, and an attempt to make something better or more satisfactory, but
rather we are to see in this an illustration of the "much diversified wisdom of
God." The variety which we see in nature in the flowers, the grasses, the trees, and
amongst the animals, illustrates this--each is perfect in its own kind and plane. It was
not dissatisfaction with the rose that led to the production of the pink or the pansy, but
the varieties in form and beauty and in odor give us a glimpse of the lengths and breadths
and heights and depths of the divine mind--diversity in harmony; beauty and perfection
expressed in various forms and patterns and colors. So, too, it is with the intelligent
creations--sons of God on various planes of being. From this standpoint we perceive that,
however many creations God shall bring forth, there will be no room for jealousies between
them, because each being perfect in its own plane and sphere will be satisfied to the full
with its own condition, and will really prefer that to any other; just as a fish is better
satisfied to be a fish than to be a bird, and, vice versa, the bird is best
satisfied with its nature: so mankind, when restored to human perfection under Edenic
conditions, will be absolutely satisfied with those conditions, so that they will not
covet to be angels of any grade or station, nor will they covet the highest nature of all
granted to the new creation; namely, "the divine nature." (`2 Pet. 1:4`) Neither
will the angels covet the nature and conditions of the cherubim and seraphim or man--nor
yet of the divine nature. All will ultimately understand that the divine nature is the
highest of all; that it has qualities and conditions which outrank those of all other
natures; yet under

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the divine arrangement each nature will be so thoroughly in accord with its own
conditions and environments and perfection that each will have satisfaction in his own
state. When Jehovah God purposed the New Creation--partakers of the divine nature (`2 Pet.
1:4`)--partakers of his own "glory, honor and immortality" (`Rom. 2:7`)--he
determined that none could be created to so high a station and then be given a
trial; but that, on the contrary, whoever should be constituted members of this New
Creation must have their trial first, and must prove their loyalty to their Creator and to
the principles of his righteous government most absolutely before they could be exalted to
this high estate --to this New Creation of the divine nature. We have just seen how man's
trial and testing as to worthiness of life eternal has been arranged for--the original
human perfection in which he was created; his fall; his redemption; and the recovery and
restitution of all of his race found worthy. We have just seen, too, that the angels were
created in the holiness and perfection of their nature and were subsequently
tried and tested; but it is evident that a similar procedure in connection with the New
Creatures of the divine nature (namely, their creation to the perfection of this nature
and their subsequent trial) would not do. Why? Because a most important element
of the divine nature is immortality, and when we come to understand that this word
signifies a death-proof condition,* we can readily see that to have created any beings on
the divine plane, immortal, death-proof, and then subsequently to have tried, tested them,
would have meant that had any failed to come up to the required standard of absolute
loyalty to God, they would have been immortal transgressors who could not have been
destroyed, and whose continued existence throughout eternity as transgressors, as sinners,
would have been so many blemishes, so many blots upon the fair creation of the universe,
as God intends it eventually shall be. We perceive then the deep wisdom of the plan which
God ---------- *See Vol. V, p. 389.

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has adopted in respect to this most highly favored class of all his creatures--in
testing them severely, crucially, while still they are mortals, members of another
creation of dieable nature. If in mind we place ourselves with the great Creator, as his
intimate friends, and imagine the philosophy of the divine arrangement for this New
Creation, we can fancy Jehovah God musing with himself respecting this New Creation thus:
To what class of the sons of God shall I proffer this distinguished privilege of being
transformed to this supreme order, or class of my creatures? Each order is already in my
image--man, angels, cherubim, seraphim and the archangel; all will be supremely happy,
each in his own perfection and estate, when my plan has reached its culmination and the
testings are all ended--but to which of them shall I offer this grandest of blessings and
opportunities--of becoming "partakers of the divine nature"? Naturally the First
Begotten would come promptly to the Father's mind as the one who was already the highest,
the chiefest of all myriads, already next to himself; the god, the mighty one through whom
he had created all things, and who, in every particular, had shown his fidelity and
loyalty to his Father and Creator. To him first, therefore, would be granted the
opportunity of attaining to the divine nature and its glory, honor and immortality.
"It pleased the Father that in him should all fulness dwell"--"that in all
things he might have the pre-eminence." (`Col. 1:18,19`) He already had pre-eminence
above all others, and having used it faithfully, he was naturally first in the order of
advancement to whatever higher honors and dignities the Father had to give. To him that
hath shall be given, and he shall have more abundance; faithfulness shall have its reward
even though this shall mean that the faithful one must be subjected to trials, experiences
and disciplines of the most crucial kind. Even though a son, a most loyal son, a most
devoted son, he could not be granted a share in this divine nature unless, first of all,
his faith and loyalty be put to most crucial tests.

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This outline of the New Creation and this selection of the Only Begotten to be the head
and chief of the New Creation --subject to the trials, disciplines, humiliations and other
necessary experiences to prove his worthiness--had already been determined upon in the
divine counsel before man was created. It was foreknown to God that his human creature
would fall; he had determined that his sentence should be death; and he had prearranged
that the test he would impose upon his Only Begotten would be that he should, of his own
free will, become the Redeemer of mankind, and, by so great a sacrifice as this implied,
manifest his loyalty to the Father, and his faith in him. Thus, in the divine plan he was
the "Lamb slain before the foundation of the world." From this standpoint we
perceive that so far from being forced to be man's redeemer--so far from the Father's
practicing injustice toward the Son in this requirement, it was the Father's preparation
of him for the great exaltation--far above angels, principalities and powers and every
name that is named, as partaker of his own nature and sharer of his own throne. `Heb.
1:4`; `Eph. 1:21` From this standpoint we can not wonder that the Apostle speaks of our
Lord's undertaking to be our Redeemer "for the joy that was set before him."
(`Heb. 12:2`) The joy was not merely the anticipation of the highest place in the New
Creation, far above all other creations; but we may reasonably suppose that this was a
part of it. Nevertheless, we notice in our Redeemer's prayer to the Father while passing
through the trials, that, with characteristic modesty, he did not refer to the great
dignity and glory and immortality promised him and expected; but with a beautiful
simplicity and humility asked merely that he should be restored to his previous station;
as though he esteemed it honor enough that he should have been chosen of the Father as his
agent to carry forward other features of the divine plan, as he already had been the
honored agent in the creation of all things that were made. (`John 1:3`) His simple words
were, "Father, glorify me with the glory that I had with thee before

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the world was." (`John 17:5`) But the Father's answer was full of meaning when he
said, "I have already glorified [honored] thee, and I will glorify [honor] thee
additionally." `John 12:28`, Vatican MS. But, further, the Father purposed
in himself that the New Creation should consist, not merely of one individual, but that he
should have "brethren." (`Heb. 2:17`) Who should these brethren be? from what
class would they be selected? from cherubim? from seraphim? from angels? or from man? Of
whichever class, they must be subjected to precisely the same tests required of the Only
Begotten; for the same reason, because they are to share his glory, honor and immortality.
The test put upon him was that of obedience-- "even unto death" (`Phil. 2:8`),
and all, therefore, who would share with him, as New Creatures, the divine nature, must
also share with him in trials and sufferings and testings, and must prove faithful even
unto death. If the offer had been made to the members of any of the angelic
classes, or natures, it would have meant a different divine program from that which we see
now being carried out. We have seen that the holy angels have been receiving their
experience and knowledge through observation, rather than by contact with sin and death,
and to suppose such a condition amongst the angels as would have permitted some of them to
die, would imply a condition of actual sin amongst the angels, persecution one of another,
etc., in order to bring about such death conditions; or that some of the angels should do,
as our Lord Jesus did, lay aside their higher nature and become men "for the
suffering of death." God did not adopt this plan; but since in his purpose sin and
its penalty, death, would be illustrated in mankind, he determined to select the remainder
of the New Creation from amongst men. Thus not only the testing of the Only Begotten One
alone would be in connection with humanity and the sin and death prevailing amongst men,
but similarly all who would be joint-heirs with him in the New Nature would have like
opportunities, experiences and testings.

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Thus the Only Begotten, called Jesus, subsequently the Christ, the Anointed, would
become a pattern and ensample for the other members of the New Creation, all of whom would
be required to conform to his character-likeness --to become "copies of the
likeness of his Son." (`Rom. 8:29`, Diaglott) Herein, as everywhere, we see
a manifestation of economy in the various features of the divine plan: the operation of
sin and death in one department of creation would be sufficient; it would prove not only a
great lesson and testing for men, and a great object lesson for the angels, but also as a
crucial testing for those who would be counted worthy of a share in the New Creation. The
fact that the New Testament writings--the teachings of Jesus and the apostles--are
addressed to this "New Creature" class, or to those contemplating the steps of
faith and obedience necessary to place them amongst this class, has caused many to infer,
contrary to the Scriptures, that God's purposes are the same in respect to all mankind. It
has caused them to overlook the fact that the calling of this present Gospel age is
specially stated to be a "high calling," a "heavenly calling." (`Phil.
3:14`; `Heb. 3:1`) The failure to recognize that God had, and still has, a plan of
salvation for the whole world, and a somewhat different plan of special salvation for the
Church of this Gospel age, has led to a confusion of mind amongst commentators, who do not
discern the difference between the elect class and its blessings, and the much larger
non-elect class and the blessings to come to it in due time through the very elect. They
have supposed that God's plan will end when the election is completed, instead of seeing
that it will be then only beginning as respects the human nature and the restitution
salvation designed for the world at large--as many as will receive it on the Lord's terms.
This uncertainty of thought, and failure to recognize the difference between the two
salvations--that of the Church to a new nature, the divine, and that of the world by
restitution

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to the full perfection of human nature--have led to much confusion and conglomeration,
in the minds of these teachers of the Scriptures which apply to these two salvations, so
that now they think of the saved from one standpoint and again from another. Some think
and speak of them as spirit beings, yet confound those spirit beings in glory, honor and
immortality with human beings, and imagine them as having flesh, bones, etc., in the
spiritual condition. Others take human restitution as the center of their thought, and
imagine a restored paradise-earth with the Lord and the saints residing in it in what they
term spiritual bodies, not discerning the real meaning of the word spiritual; otherwise
they would know that while a spiritual body is adapted to a spiritual condition and would
be only encumbered by fleshly conditions or elements, so, likewise, the human, or earthly
body is properly one adapted to the earthly conditions, and if it were in any degree
etherealized would be a monstrosity, unsuitable alike to the divine intention and the
human nature. The beauty and symmetry of the divine plan can only be seen clearly by the
recognition of the New Creation; that its prospective members are called of God to be
separate, distinct from the human nature; that there is a "heavenly calling" or
"high calling"; and that aside from making their own calling and election sure,
they have a twofold work to do in connection with the human family from which they are
selected. (1) To be God's agents in the gathering of the elect class, delivering the while
a witness-message to the world, as members of the atonement priesthood, suffering at the
hands of the world because of their faithfulness and the world's blindness. (2) They
shall, with their Lord and Chief, constitute a divine, a royal, spiritual priesthood into
whose hands the interests and affairs of the world will be committed for the correction
and uplifting of each obedient member of the race--mediating between God and man and
establishing amongst men a kingdom of righteousness in

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accord with the divine program for man's instruction and restitution. It will readily
be seen that no other class of beings could be found so well adapted to the divine
intention of ruling and blessing the world. Their original identity with mankind, as
"children of wrath even as others," fully acquaints them with the weaknesses,
the imperfections, the besetments and trials to which humanity is exposed through sin and
constitutional weaknesses: and this prepares them to be moderate rulers and merciful
priests, as their full perfection in the divine nature will qualify them to be absolutely
just as well as loving in all their decisions as the judges of the world in that, the
world's judgment day.* But while this great and important work of uplifting, ruling,
blessing and judging the world of mankind and the fallen angels will, as a work, be
specially committed to these New Creatures of the divine nature, and while no other beings
in all the universe will be so well prepared as they to do this work (for which under
divine guidance they are being specially trained and prepared), nevertheless, this is not
by any means their entire mission or work. On the contrary, the thousand years of the
Millennial reign will constitute but a beginning of the exercise of the glory, honor and
immortality of these New Creatures. At its close when the Kingdom shall be delivered up to
"God, even the Father," and to mankind as the glorified agents of the Father to
rule the earth, a still larger sphere for the exercise of their glory, honor and
immortality will open before the New Creation; for is it not written that the Heavenly
Father has not only made his Son a partaker of his own divine nature but also a sharer of
his throne--and that the Son is set down with the Father in his throne? (`Rev. 3:21`) And
even though in a sense he leaves that official position during the Millennial age in order
that he may specially administer the affairs ---------- *See Vol. I, Chap. viii--The Day
of Judgment.

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of his earthly purchase and dominion, it surely does not mean that having in the
fullest sense finished the work that the Father gave him to do, he will be any less
glorious or occupy a position any less dignified than that accorded him when he ascended
up on high after having, by the sacrifice of himself, paid for us the penalty of sin. We
know not what great works in respect to the future our Creator may have in view for his
Only Begotten and well-beloved Son, whom "he hath appointed heir of all things";
but we do know from our Master's own lips that the promise is ours that when glorified we
shall be like him and see him as he is, and share his glory, "and so shall we ever be
with the Lord." Whatever, therefore, shall be the future activities of the Only
Begotten as the "heir of all things," we shall be with him and share his work
and share his glory as we shall share his nature also. While this is as far as the written
Word of God carries us, it can not be sacrilegious for us to look into the book of nature
in the light of the divine plan, and, using the divine Word as the telescope, to discern
that the various planets or worlds all about us in every direction are not being formed in
vain either; and that some time or other there will be works of creation in these; and
that when that time comes he who in all things has had the pre-eminence will continue to
have pre-eminence and will still be the chief in the direction of all the divine forces.
We need not anticipate a repetition in the other planets of the sin-experiences of our
world, the earth; but, on the contrary, may rest assured that this one exhibition of
"the exceeding sinfulness of sin" and of its terrible results can be, and will
be, used of the Lord as a perpetual lesson to the beings yet to be created in his image in
other worlds, who shall learn by observation and instruction instead of by experience.
With Satan and all his emissaries and every evil and blighting influence destroyed--with
the glorified Church wise in experience, to instruct these perfect creatures of other
worlds--with teachers, possibly taken to them from

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this earth, possessed of knowledge and experience in contact with sin, and with the
uplifting and blessing of the Lord, how wise may not these become respecting right and
wrong and their rewards! Their teachers will be able to tell the particulars of the great
rebellion of Satan, the great deceiver of mankind; of the terrible fall of mankind into
sin and misery; of the great redemption from it; of the high reward of the Redeemer and
his joint-heirs; of the blessed restitution privileges granted to men; and that these were
all lessons and examples for God's entire creation forever. These instructions should be
all-powerful in restraining from sin, and in teaching all the necessity for
character-development in accord with the divine law of love. The work of these "New
Creatures" in the present time, as has already been shown,* is a twofold one, their
begetting of the holy Spirit constitutes them priests, but it is only their minds that are
begotten--their bodies are still of the earth, earthy, and, hence, as the Apostle
declares, "We have this treasure [the new nature] in earthen vessels, that the glory
may be of God and not of us." (`2 Cor. 4:7`) The newly begotten mind, or will, is all
there is at present to represent the new nature, and all there will be until in the First
Resurrection that new will, developed in character, shall be provided a suitable body, a
heavenly body, a spiritual body, perfect and complete and in absolute harmony with the
divine will. Meantime the divine power, the holy Spirit, operating thus in our minds and
constituting us "New Creatures" and priests, leads us in the direction of
sacrifice, and points us to our natural human interests, ambitions, preferences, etc., as
the proper things to be sacrificed, wherever they conflict in any degree with the
ambitions and conditions provided of God for the "New Creatures." Thus the
victory of the New Creature is attained at the sacrifice of his own human nature, and this
victory glorifies God and his power to "work in us to will and to do" through
his ---------- *See Tabernacle Shadows of the Better Sacrifices, pp. 20-23.

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promises, in a manner in which he could not be glorified were all of our natural
conditions in accord with his requirements, so that no sacrificing would be necessary. But
as the faith, consecration and sacrificing of the "New Creatures" in the present
life answer to, or correspond to, and were typified by, the Aaronic priesthood of Israel
and their typical sacrifices, so, as the Apostle explains, the future priesthood of these
New Creatures is represented in, or typified by, the glorious priesthood of Melchizedek.
Melchizedek was not a priest who offered sacrifices in a linen robe; he was a priest who
was at the same time a king--"A priest upon his throne." As such his position
was higher in the type than the position of Aaron; for Aaron was the son of Abraham, and
Abraham, great as he was, paid tithes to Melchizedek and received a blessing at his hands,
typifying, as the Apostle explains, that the under priesthood of sacrifice represents a
lower plane, or condition, than the higher priesthood of kingship, glory and honor. These
New Creatures then, in the glorious work of the Millennial Kingdom (Christ, their Head,
and they reckoned as members of his body), were typified by Melchizedek. With these the
sacrificing feature of the work will all be at an end, the reigning, the ruling, the
blessing, the assisting will all have begun and they will be entirely competent to
accomplish the divine promise; namely, that "all the families of the earth shall be
blessed" through these, God's agents, through whom "whosoever will" may
come back into full harmony with the Creator and his laws. `Gen. 22:18`; `Gal. 3:16,29`
All the various figures by which the Lord represents the intimate relationship between his
Only Begotten, the Savior, and the elect Church, called and being prepared to be "New
Creatures" and associates with him in the divine nature, show most strikingly the
closeness, the intimacy, the oneness which will exist between them. As though the Lord
realized that his human creatures of humble mind would necessarily stagger in faith at the
thought of such a boundless

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interest and love for them on the part of the Creator as to invite them to the highest
position in all creation next to his Son and next to himself, we find that the matter is
presented repeatedly and under different figures, as though the more completely to set at
rest our every question, doubt and fear respecting his faithfulness--respecting the
genuineness of this "high calling." We refresh our minds respecting some of
these: in one our Lord is represented as the "top-stone" of a pyramid, and the
elect Church as living stones drawn to him and shaped and prepared in harmony with the
lines of his character, that they may be members with him in the great pyramidal structure
which God is erecting during this Gospel age, and which in the coming age will bless the
world, and through whom to all eternity he will be glorified. This pyramid picture is
closely related to the temple picture; and we are assured that the temple built by Solomon
was typical of this greater spiritual temple which, with still greater wisdom, God is
building. (`1 Pet. 2:5`) We are shown that, as in the type every beam and every stone was
originally marked out for its place and shaped to fit its place, so with the Church of the
New Creation--its members will each be fitted and prepared for his place. As this
permitted the construction of the typical temple "without the sound of a
hammer," without jar or commotion or noise, so under the divine Architect the Church
complete as the New Creation will, in the end of this Gospel age, be born from the dead as
the Lord, the Head of this temple, was the "firstborn from the dead" in his
resurrection at the beginning of the age. `1 Kings 6:7` Another of these figures we
remember is that of a human body with its various members. It is the Apostle Paul that so
clearly and distinctly points us to this illustration of the close relationship which the
elect bear to the Lord, the Head of the Church, which is his body. (`Rom. 12:4,5`; `1 Cor.
12:12`) As the head controls the body, thinks for it, plans for it, oversees its affairs
and directs, or uses, one or

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another member of the body for the assistance of others, so does the Lord in his Church
supervise and set the various members of the body as it pleases him; to such an extent
overruling in respect to the interests of all those who are seeking to "make their
calling and election sure," that they have his guarantee that so long as they are in
this right attitude of heart, humble and faithful, "all things shall work together
for good to them," because they "love God and are called according to his
purpose." Another figure showing the intimate relationship between Christ and his
Church, is that of the captain and his soldiers; another that of the shepherd and the
sheep; and though all of these figures bring us precious thoughts of the consecrated
relationship of the Head of the New Creation to his brethren, the Church, none perhaps
gives us a fuller and more complete view of the Master's interest in us and love for us
than the figure of the Bridegroom and the Bride. A noble Bridegroom surely is the Only
Begotten One to all whose eyes of understanding are open to behold his grandeur of
character and his faithfulness! Well is it expressed prophetically as the sentiment of his
Church, his body, that he is "The chiefest among ten thousand, the one altogether
lovely." The Apostle using this figure and addressing the Church declares, "I
have espoused you to one husband that I may present you as a chaste virgin to
Christ." (`2 Cor. 11:2`) He here refers to the Jewish custom of marriage, quite
different from the usage of the present day throughout "Christendom." Today an
espousal is merely a tentative engagement subject to change if either of the parties
concludes that the engagement was unwise or unprofitable; but the Jewish marriage
engagement was evidently intended of the Lord to be a type of the engagement between
Christ, the Bridegroom, and the Church, his Bride. In the Jewish custom the espousal is
the real marriage; it is accompanied by a definite contract, usually in writing, in which
the representatives of the bridegroom and the bride mutually agree as to dower, etc., and
the matter becomes absolutely

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binding forthwith, although it is the usual custom to defer the wedding festivities and
the actual union for nearly a year. So is the agreement, or contract, between the Lord,
the heavenly Bridegroom, and those who are accepted of him in espousal. Neither on his
part nor on ours is it a slack contract; but a positive union of heart, of interest, of
love, of devotion; and any abrogation of this our covenant would be a serious matter, and
of the Bridegroom the Apostle assures us: "Faithful is he that calleth you, who also
will do it." (`1 Thess. 5:24`) The entire stress of the matter, therefore, rests upon
us. In the close of the age our Lord comes as the Bridegroom to receive the Bride, but he
will accept only the "wise virgins." Those who, having made a covenant, have
been foolish in that they have lived carelessly, will not be counted worthy of acceptance;
will not be known in connection with the marriage; the door will be shut against them as
shown in the parable (`Matt. 25:1-12`); they will be shut out from the great privileges
and blessings they might through faithfulness have enjoyed. But we rejoice that although
their unfaithfulness may bring them into the great time of trouble and may occasion a loss
of a share in the Kingdom and of the divine nature, yet it will not mean to them that they
shall be on this account shut up to an eternity of torture. No, thank God, the light of
his Word is shining more clearly now! The making of our "calling and election
sure" will mean great and eternal riches of grace to those of us who shall attain;
and the loss of such blessings will of itself be no small punishment for carelessness in
respect to the covenant relationship and becoming contaminated with the world and its
spirit. Though for the most part these "New Creatures in Christ Jesus" are
chosen from the lower strata of society, rather than from its upper crust, and although on
this account the world knoweth us not even as it knew him not, nevertheless, the
Scriptures assure us that God who looketh at the heart and not upon the outward
appearance, appreciates very

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highly the faithful ones of this class now being sought out and developed for the New
Creation. Not only does he tell of the divine supervision of their affairs, causing all
things to work together for their ultimate good, but he even explains in some measure how
this supervision of their interests is accomplished--that the angels are "ministering
spirits sent forth to minister unto those who shall be heirs of salvation"; and that
"the angel of the Lord encampeth round about them that are his and delivereth
them"; and, also, that these guardian angels for his little flock do always have
access to his Father's face and, figuratively speaking, that not even a hair of their
heads could be injured without the Father's knowledge. It is in full accord with all these
tender assurances of divine care that we are told through the inspired word, "The
Lord knoweth them that are his," and "They shall be mine in that day that I come
to make up my jewels." `2 Tim. 2:19`; `Mal. 3:17` It is germane to our subject to
consider that the New Creation, because of its call to newness of life, is instructed by
the Lord--"Ye must be born again." Here the natural birth as earthly creatures
of the human nature, is used to carry to our minds the thought of a new birth for the New
Creation. The natural birth is preceded by a begettal, then a quickening and, finally, the
birth. So in the arrangement for the New Creation: (1) we must be begotten by the Word and
Spirit of God; (2) we must be quickened, energized by the spirit of the truth received;
(3) if the process of development continues, if the Word of God abides in us richly and
abounds, causing us to be neither barren [idle] nor unfruitful, we shall by and by come to
the birth--to a share in the First Resurrection as members in the body of Christ.
Concerning that resurrection and that complete change from natural, earthly, human beings
to spiritual, heavenly beings of the divine nature, we shall have more to say by and by,*
but here we remark more particularly the begetting. ---------- *Chapter vi.

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The Word distinctly points out to us that the begetting of these sons of God is
"not of blood nor of the will of the flesh nor of the will of man, but of God."
(`John 1:13`) The Apostle Paul also points this out when, writing of the elect class of
"New Creatures" and their Head, Christ Jesus, and the honorable condition to
which they have been called, he says, "No man taketh this honor unto himself but he
that is called of God, as was Aaron." `Heb. 5:4` The Scriptures continually
distinguish clearly between these elect "New Creatures" and the general human
family; but here we may give briefly but two illustrations. (1) In speaking of the
redemption of the world, the Apostle clearly divides the atonement sacrifice into two
parts, one for the Church, the other for the world; saying, "He is a propitiation for
our sins [the Church's sins], and not for ours only, but also for the sins of the whole
world." (`1 John 2:2`) (2) The same Apostle distinguishes between the Church's trials
and difficulties in the present life, and those of the world, and also between the hopes
of the elect Church and the hopes of the world. He says, "Ourselves also, which have
the first fruits of the spirit,...groan within ourselves, waiting for the adoption, to
wit, the redemption [deliverance] of our body"--the one body, the Church, of which
Christ is the Head, whose deliverance is promised in the First Resurrection at his second
advent. (`Rom. 8:23`) We do not groan outwardly as does the world, because we have
received from the Lord, through our begetting of his spirit, an antidote for the
disappointments and trials and difficulties of this present time, even the glorious hopes
and promises, which are an anchor to our souls, entering into that which is within the
veil. In our various difficulties and trials, we sorrow not as others who have no hope. In
the same connection the Apostle refers to the world and its hope; saying, "The whole
creation groaneth and travaileth in pain together until now"; they have little to
palliate or assuage the wounds and aches and smarts which belong to this travailing time,
in which they are learning merely the lesson of

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the exceeding sinfulness of sin and of the severity of its just deserts--dying and
death. But pointing us beyond to the world's hope, the Apostle declares that they are
"waiting for the manifestation of the sons of God." (`Rom. 8:19,22`) They are
not waiting in hope that they may be found amongst those sons of God, but waiting for the
blessings which those sons of the New Creation, invested with the glory and power of the
Millennial Kingdom, will bring to this earth according to divine promise, for the blessing
of all the families of the earth. The test of membership in the New Creation will not be
membership in any earthly organization, but union with the Lord as a member of his
mystical body; as saith the Apostle, "If any man be in Christ, he is a New Creature:
old things are passed away; behold, all things are become new." (`2 Cor. 5:17`) In
order to be counted a member of the body of Christ at all, it is necessary that the old
things, or earthly things--ambitions, hopes, prides, vanities and follies --shall have
passed from the will, even though to some extent they may harass us because in a measure
attractive to our flesh. It is the new mind that the Lord recognizes as the "New
Creature"; it is the progress and development of the new mind that he is interested
in and promises to reward. In order to abide in Christ, the Scriptures clearly show us
that more than the mere making of a consecration is necessary. Consecration opens the door
and gives us the standing, gives us the relationship, gives us the backing and
encouragement of the divine promises, and puts us in the way, therefore, to cultivate the
various fruits of the Spirit, and finally to attain joint-heirship with our Lord in the
heavenly glory. But to maintain this standing in the body of Christ now requires that
fruits shall be produced, evidences of love and devotion, even as the Master expressed in
the parable of the vine, saying, "Every branch in me that beareth not fruit he taketh
away: and every branch that beareth fruit, he purgeth [pruneth] it, that it may bring
forth more fruit." (`John 15:2`) To have been accepted of the

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Lord as a New Creature in Christ Jesus some years in the past would seem, therefore, to
imply a more or less regular growth in grace and knowledge and the fruits of the Spirit;
otherwise our relationship to him would be forfeited and another would take our place
amongst the elect, and the crown originally counted and set apart for us would pass to
another more appreciative of the privileges, more zealous to attain to the glorious things
which God hath promised to them that love him, and more willing, therefore, to count all
earthly things but loss and dross that they may win Christ--win a place in the anointed
company. Not only is this standing in Christ illustrated by such a growth in the fruits of
the Spirit, but, as the Apostle Peter says, "If ye do these things ye shall never
fall; for so an entrance shall be ministered unto you abundantly into the everlasting
kingdom of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ." (`2 Pet. 1:10,11`) However, this means,
as expressed by the Apostle Paul, that the new mind, the "New Creature," is to
be so thoroughly conformed to the will of God that he will daily seek to "put off the
old man with his affections and desires." For the New Creation is figuratively
represented as a new man-- Christ the Head, the Church the members of the body-- which is
to edify or build up itself and come, figuratively, to the full stature of a man in Christ
Jesus, every member being completed and fully developed--completed not in our own
strength, in the flesh, but complete in him who is our living Head, his righteousness
compensating for our unintentional blemishes. Humanity judges of its affairs by its five
senses--sight, hearing, touch, smell and taste--all of which the New Creatures may freely
use so long as they have the new mind in the earthen vessel. But these are not sufficient
for the New Creation, which needs other senses whereby to apprehend spiritual things that
can neither be seen, felt, tasted, heard, nor smelled by the human organism. And this lack
the Lord has supplied through the holy Spirit, as the Apostle explains: "The natural
man receiveth not the things of the Spirit of God,...neither can he know them, because
they

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are spiritually discerned." "Eye hath not seen, nor ear heard,
neither have entered into the heart of man [by any other sense or power of
perception] the things which God hath in reservation for those who love him--but God hath
revealed them unto us [the "New Creation"] by his Spirit; for the Spirit
searcheth [out] all things, yea the deep things of God." `1 Cor. 2:9,10,14` This
spiritual sense may be called the sixth sense of those begotten to the New
Creation; or they may be considered as having a complete set of spiritual senses--five
additional senses corresponding to their earthly senses. Gradually "the eyes
of their understanding" open wider and wider to the things not seen by the natural
eye; by degrees the hearing of faith increases until every good promise of the
Divine Word is forceful and meaningful; in time they come into touch with the
Lord and his invisible powers; little by little they taste that the Lord is very
gracious; after a time they come to appreciate those sacrifices and incense-prayers which
are of sweet odor to the Lord. But as the natural senses can be cultivated, so
can the spiritual; and the cultivation of these spiritual senses (or, at least, the
endeavors to cultivate them) constitute marks indicating our growth in grace--our
development as embryo New Creatures for the resurrection birth--to the completeness of our
new selves in the glory, honor and immortality of the divine nature.

By What Name Should the New Creation Be Known?

From one standpoint this is a peculiar question, a strange question. When we consider
that the Church is the espoused of the Lord, betrothed to him as the Bride, it seems
peculiar to ask what name shall she have. Surely no name would be appropriate to the Bride
other than the name of the Bridegroom, and the very suggestion of any other name implies a
misconception of the relationship subsisting between the Lord and his consecrated ones,
the "members of his body," "the Bride, the Lamb's Wife." The
Scriptural name seems quite sufficient; viz., the Ecclesia; that is, the

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Body, the Church of Christ. If further designation be desired, the Scriptures supply
this in the expression, "The Ecclesia of Christ," or Church of Christ,
"The Ecclesia of God," or Church of God. (`Rom. 16:16`; `Acts 20:28`)
The two names are synonymous, because our Lord and the Father have one interest in us. As
the Church is the body of Christ, of which he is the Head, so the whole Church, Head and
Body, is the company, or group, or anointed of the Father, through whom he is pleased to
accomplish all the great and wonderful features of his redemptive work already outlined in
the exceeding great and precious promises of his Word. The Apostle further elaborates the
name by designating the faithful to be "The Church of the Living God," as though
he would thus contrast this Church or body or people, of whom Christ is the Head, with
other bodies or religious systems not properly recognizing the true God nor recognized by
the true God as his Ecclesia, or Church. The tendency toward other names than those set
before us by the Lord and the apostles has been manifest from a very early period. As some
today are disposed to say, "I am of Luther," "I am of Calvin," "I
am of Wesley," or "I am of Knox," and yet are all claiming to be of Christ,
so we see the same disposition was manifest in the primitive Church, for the Apostle calls
our attention to the fact in his letter to the Corinthians. (`1 Cor. 3:4-6`) The factional
or sectarian spirit had broken out amongst the Corinthian brethren; and not satisfied with
the names of Christ and of God, they were seeking to add to these, and were Pauline
Christians and Peterite Christians and Apollosian Christians. The Apostle, under
inspiration, reproves this spirit, and points out that it is not the holy Spirit, but a
carnal one, which prompts to this division of the body and the following of one or another
of the Lord's servants. The Apostle's argument fits equally well today. His interrogation,
"Is Christ divided?" means, Are there many bodies of Christ? Are there many
churches of Christ, or only one? And if only one, why should it be divided? "Who then
is Paul? Who is Apollos? Who is Peter?" They were merely servants of the Head of the
Church,

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whom he used for the blessing of his body--his Ecclesia. Had they been unwilling, he
could have found others to have done the work which they did. The praise, therefore, and
the honor for whatever blessing has come through the apostles, belongs chiefly,
especially, to the Head of the Church, who made this provision for the necessities of his
body. This does not mean that we are not to recognize and properly to honor all whom the
Lord recognizes and honors, but it does mean that we are in no sense of the word to
recognize them as heads of the Church, nor to divide the Church into sects and
parties--followers of different men. To the extent that the apostles or any of the
servants of the Lord have been used of him, it has been not to divide the Church, but to
draw the members of it together, to unite the various consecrated believers the more
firmly to the one Head, the one Lord, through the one faith and the one baptism. What can
we think would be the language of the Apostle if he stood with us today in the flesh, and
witnessed the present division into various denominations? Assuredly he would tell us that
it indicated a large measure of carnality-- a large measure of the spirit of the world.
This does not mean that all connected with these systems are carnal and wholly without the
spirit of the Lord. It would, however, signify that in proportion as we have the Spirit of
the Lord, and in proportion as we are freed from the carnal mind and its leadings and
influence, in those same proportions we will feel out of sympathy with the divisions which
we see about us, under various sectarian names; and in proportion as the holy Spirit of
the Lord increases and abounds in us more and more, it will make us the more dissatisfied
with every other name than the name of our Lord, until at last we shall, under the
guidance of the Spirit, come to the place where we can recognize only the one Church, and
the one membership, viz., "the Church of the First-born ones, whose names are written
in heaven"; and the one method of induction into that Church, viz., by being baptized
into our Master's body, his Ecclesia, and by being baptized into

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his death, thus becoming united to him and to all the other members by the one Spirit.
It is not for us to change the entire sentiment of Christendom on this subject--that is
too great a contract for any human being. It is for us to be personally faithful to the
Bridegroom--for each one who has named the name of Christ to depart from all iniquity,
from everything wrong in respect to his own faith, conduct and customs. Such will not be
willing to be known by any other name than that of the Bridegroom, and when asked will
take pleasure in owning his name and his alone--the only name given under heaven or
amongst men whereby we must be saved. In obedience to the spirit of this truth, we will be
separated from all sectarian names, as well as from all sectarian institutions, that we
may stand free in the Lord. This will not mean that we must repudiate those who have the
Lord's Spirit but are still connected with sectarian systems. We are, on the contrary, to
recognize that our Lord's words, "Come out of her, my people, that ye be not
partakers of her sins, and that ye receive not of her plagues," imply that some of
his people are in Babylon and, therefore, laboring under misconceptions respecting
sectarian institutions and names. It is for us to let our light shine, and to leave the
results with the Lord. Not only do we deprecate the taking of any human name, but we
deprecate any name that is or might become a sectarian or party name, and thus separate
some of the Lord's people from all others who are his. We would avoid the special use of
the term "Christian Church," or the term "Church of God," as these
names are used to identify particular faiths and communions amongst the Lord's people.
Rather, we would use and answer to all the various Scriptural names,
Disciples, Church of God, Church of Christ, Church of the Living God, Church at Corinth,
Church at Allegheny, etc. We cannot avoid the fact that many will misunderstand us in this
matter; nor should we take offense at them if, to some extent, they apply to us some
peculiar designations, after the usual customs amongst Christian

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people. For instance, they may call us "Restitutionists," or
"Dawnists," or "Watch Tower People," etc. We are not to recognize
any of these names, to the extent of applying them to ourselves--yet the spirit of
meekness, of patience, of peace and of love, would indicate that we should not take
offense at the application of such names, but charitably presume that the motive was not
bad, or, at least, not vicious; and we should answer to such names kindly and not
combatively-- implying that we understand that we are meant, and as briefly and gently as
possible indicate that we prefer to recognize no sectarian or party names, but stand on
the name Christian, in its broadest and fullest sense, as signifying that we have no head
other than our Lord Jesus Christ, and that we recognize no organization other than that
which he organized --the one Church of the Living God, the Ecclesia or Body of Christ,
whose names are written in heaven.